FITCH PASSES BIG TEST
By Ty Bartell
AUSTINTOWN OH- A premiere Thursday night showdown occurred on hardwood with two of the top area
volleyball teams in The Austintown Fitch Falcons and The Lakeview Bulldogs. With both squads typically winning or towards the top of their respective conferences and Lakeview beating Fitch 3-1 back on August 27th, 2022, it left many wanting to see a rematch from last season. This time, the matchup was hosted at Austintown-Fitch; however, it was not just the venue that was different from a year ago. Both teams would be missing their top players and kill-getters from last season in both The Bulldogs Tara Lytle (377 Kills) and The Falcons Jocelyn Jourdan (495 Kills).
Set one was what you would expect when two talented teams square off, with a bit of back-and-forth points being exchanged and no real leader emerging in the set early on. Fitch would end up pulling away later in the set behind some great net defense by Afton Roby and the combination of Jordan Smith plus Kylie Folkwein attacking from the outside helped secure the set win for Fitch 25-20. While set two could have been a layoff for The Falcons, it was quite the opposite as Austintown kept the foot on the gas, taking the initial lead in the set and never letting it go. Maintaining their advantage, despite a battling bunch of Bulldogs, as Fitch grabbed the set two win 25-19 and a pivotal set win, giving Austintown a 2-0 advantage in sets.
Reagan Price would step up big in set three and put on a show both in the game and behind the service line. Finishing with 16 kills total on the night, Price leads her team in kills this season as she sports a very impressive 53.9% kill percentage and a 0.487 hit percentage, showcasing herself as an all-around threat. Utilizing her height matcher with her high volleyball IQ, Price helped lead her team to a 25-22 set three victory, holding off a late Fitch rally. Also crucial in the set was the play of Mallory Mailach, who was spreading the love around the team to the tune of 35 assists on the evening, while also chipping in just about everywhere else across the statline.
Set four was all about defense for The Falcons and junior Izzy DiRenzo highlighted that with her incredible 28 digs on the night to lead the team. As Austintown locked it down to secure an impressive 25-14 win in set four and securing the match 3-1. A similar score, but a different victor between two teams in a rematch from almost a year ago to the date. Fitch once again had a well-balanced team with three Falcons ending the match with a double-double. Jordan Smith led the team with 19 kills and collected 16 digs, while Kylie Folkwein had 12 kills paired with 18 digs and Rylie Simons had 11 digs with an incredible 44 assists!
The win for Fitch (2-0) will keep them at home for their next contest against The Massillon-Perry Panthers (0-2) on Saturday, August 26th. While Lakeview (3-1) will look to bounce back with a conference matchup on the road against Struthers (2-2) on Tuesday, August 29th.
